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- March 11th, 2017, 9:42 pm#528173
Apparently ESPN is pushing Sam to move to NFL countdown to take Berman's spot.

Hopefully this shake up gives Liberty free rein to negotiate their own TV deals with ESPN. Maybe get a few games on one of the ESPN family of networks. No more regional BS or Game of the Week . It would be smart for the other Big South schools to allow it because they would get more pub because as you suggested more regional deals might be happening.

Lastly, they need to bring back Scar. Team him up with Nick. Hire a legit halftime reporter for football and basketball. Get rid of Tilley for football and bring someone who can actually get the players name right.

Last edited by ballah09 on March 12th, 2017, 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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- March 12th, 2017, 1:49 pm#528186
I agree with bringing back SCAR and mending broken fences there. I also agree with getting a legit sideline and halftime reporter but add that we could expand our broadcasting classes and add classes on reporting for news and sports as well

Liberty Class of 20092007 AND 2008 Big South Football Champions2014 FCS Playoff Qualifier

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- March 12th, 2017, 5:21 pm#528194
Scar has already worked on some additonal networks beyond ASN and will continue to expand that roster of networks shortly.

The regionals have actually been hit harder than ESPN by the drop in revenue. Most are hemorrhaging cash right now due to bad contracts and cord-cutting. And that says something because ESPN is getting hammered financially right now.

New business models are being developed to take the place of the subscriber guarantee model that sustained sports networks for most of the past 30 years. ASN was an unusual variant of the traditional network so they were always tough to read from a business perspective. But they put out a good product.

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- March 13th, 2017, 4:21 pm#528223
espn struggles are 3 fold in my opinion. not the sole reasons but the 3 most major ones.

#1 - cord cutting. more and more people are moving away from cable/dish. with the rights they've signed over to cable/dish to not offer Watch app exclusively as an option, this will continue

#2 - massive deals they have with leagues to broadcast their live events. these are some of the worst deals imaginable...ie the nba.

#3 - their move to the left. i think this is very much to a lesser degree than the first two but i think the sports base is more conservative than progressive and people don't tune into their commentary like they used to.

i also think their attempt to shove soccer down our throats has very much fallen flat.

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RubberMallet wrote:espn struggles are 3 fold in my opinion. not the sole reasons but the 3 most major ones.

#1 - cord cutting. more and more people are moving away from cable/dish. with the rights they've signed over to cable/dish to not offer Watch app exclusively as an option, this will continue

#2 - massive deals they have with leagues to broadcast their live events. these are some of the worst deals imaginable...ie the nba.

#3 - their move to the left. i think this is very much to a lesser degree than the first two but i think the sports base is more conservative than progressive and people don't tune into their commentary like they used to.

i also think their attempt to shove soccer down our throats has very much fallen flat.

Actually I think ESPN has gone more liberal (regressive, not even progressive) on their network. They've slipped in politics with sports and some folks are leaving the mayhem. That's why I believe, for the most part, that ESPN is failing. America is tired of this liberal agenda, and corporations will continue to pump millions into this nonsense(even with decrease ratings) to push their agenda.

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RubberMallet wrote:i also think their attempt to shove soccer down our throats has very much fallen flat.

Compared to their competitors, espn hardly airs any soccer. You may not like it, but soccer is more of a strategic play, as it has the most growth-potential of the sports. Even Turner is jumping on board, just last week out-bidding all the established sports networks for the Champions League rights.

"I always wanted to be the hero of all squirrels; I just thought it'd never happen" - Quack

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RubberMallet wrote:i also think their attempt to shove soccer down our throats has very much fallen flat.

Compared to their competitors, espn hardly airs any soccer. You may not like it, but soccer is more of a strategic play, as it has the most growth-potential of the sports. Even Turner is jumping on board, just last week out-bidding all the established sports networks for the Champions League rights.

they spend large swaths of sportscenter time covering it. its not much but its enough to drive their base off.

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cruzan_flame13 wrote:Actually I think ESPN has gone more liberal (regressive, not even progressive) on their network. They've slipped in politics with sports and some folks are leaving the mayhem. That's why I believe, for the most part, that ESPN is failing. America is tired of this liberal agenda, and corporations will continue to pump millions into this nonsense(even with decrease ratings) to push their agenda.

sorry this is absurd. there are actual numbers that show why its failing. its "agenda" is not the MAIN reason its losing money. i know there is this lamebrain obsession with point to liberalism taking down this entity or that entity but its just usually not real.

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cruzan_flame13 wrote:Actually I think ESPN has gone more liberal (regressive, not even progressive) on their network. They've slipped in politics with sports and some folks are leaving the mayhem. That's why I believe, for the most part, that ESPN is failing. America is tired of this liberal agenda, and corporations will continue to pump millions into this nonsense(even with decrease ratings) to push their agenda.

sorry this is absurd. there are actual numbers that show why its failing. its "agenda" is not the MAIN reason its losing money. i know there is this lamebrain obsession with point to liberalism taking down this entity or that entity but its just usually not real.

Bomani Jones. I can never tell if I am listening to a Sports show or Nat X

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- March 24th, 2017, 1:46 pm#528569
Just stumbled on this thread. Haven't been on very much. 1st let me say that there are no bridges burned between me and Liberty. I felt like doing games at Liberty is what I was meant to do and I certainly enjoyed my time there even being grossly undervalued. Because I have a good career as a Professional Project Manager being under paid and under appreciated wasn't really a concern. I am making an attempt to do media full time now and I have a very good agent and as Sly alluded to, other entities have me on their radar. My name is rising fast in this business and I believe it is a matter of time before I lock in with some entity under contract(s). Paul Nazigian is one of my best friends in the world and I was the person that pushed him to get into this business so I would NEVER push him out of a gig. He and Matt do a solid job covering hoops. Also not living in Virginia anymore, Liberty isn't really an option.

As for American Sports Network, it was a great run for me personally and I feel like whatever form it continues in, I will be a part of it. Also I work for Campus Insiders and their parent company is Silver Chalice, the entity that bought ASN from Sinclair. Sinclair's model of not selling advertising ultimately made this an experiment rather than a sustainable network in my humble opinion. I can tell you that Campus Insiders has the correct approach in terms of monetizing their product. During my games with them we always had a couple of advertisement reads during the games that are paid for by sponsors. I'm excited about my prospects for the future. I would say that with ESPN losing big pay people, that guys like me will be more marketable. You get quality at an affordable price. I'm the TJ Max of Broadcasting!

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- March 24th, 2017, 3:09 pm#528571
Listened to a radio broadcast (or part of it) of a tournament game last weekend and the color guy was a former big name college player. For the life of me I can't remember who it was now. But I was thinking at the time why isn't SCAR doing this instead of this guy. He was not good - very hard to listen to and brought nothing to the broadcast other than a name. You deserve to be there SCAR and it's going to happen, IMHO. And thanks for getting Naz into the business. He's a good one too.

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- March 24th, 2017, 4:09 pm#528577
Thanks Flamehunter. I feel like I am wasted at this time of year too. I would LOVE to be involved in the NCAA's NIT's or something else. C-USA tournament has been good to me as far as post season. Hope to continue to be involved with them going forward. This business is all about big names for some. I had an ESPN guy tell me back in 2009 that he would hire me if I played at a power 5 school. Seems silly but that's the way some guys think. Tough to overcome unless I re-write my hoops history with some "alternative facts" . There are some big named decision makers though at other outlets that have complimented me personally on how I call games. It's going to happen soon I believe.

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flamehunter wrote:Listened to a radio broadcast (or part of it) of a tournament game last weekend and the color guy was a former big name college player. For the life of me I can't remember who it was now. But I was thinking at the time why isn't SCAR doing this instead of this guy. He was not good - very hard to listen to and brought nothing to the broadcast other than a name. You deserve to be there SCAR and it's going to happen, IMHO. And thanks for getting Naz into the business. He's a good one too.

I haven't called a game in 4 years and I think I could do a better job than some of the athletes they have as broadcasters/analysta out there (I will say I think it's Brent Barry as one of the Players Only leads...he is actually pretty solid based on the couple games I've seen)...frankly SCAR I've wanted to call a game with you since I saw you on LFN/LFSN

Liberty Class of 20092007 AND 2008 Big South Football Champions2014 FCS Playoff Qualifier